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It's that time of year, guys. You are in trouble, and you've just realized it. Sunday is Valentine's Day. And you haven't gotten your sweetheart a damn thing. Good going, fellas. Seriously, though, I'm here to help. You want to make sure that your significant other doesn't get completely pissed at you, and kick you to the curb. Aside from the flowers, chocolates, and sweet card that you're already going to get (and believe me, you should, if you're in this much potential trouble on V-Day), you need a movie. Not Die Hard again (I know, it's a great action movie, and you could even fit it in at Christmastime), and not something like Transformers. You need a great romantic movie, and maybe even one neither of you have seen.

As hinted, I'm here to help. Today's A-List is targeted to highlight five of the greatest romantic movies ever made. Now, most of these movies are straight from the American Film Institute's list of the most romantic movies ever made, so if you're in need of any further assistance after reading this article, check out their list of the top 100. Of course, that same list does include movies such as King Kong (the original; and yes, I know why it's there...kind of, but the movie is about a giant ape who abducts a woman and goes nuts), but a good portion of the films on the list are truly among the greatest, most poignant, sweet, and heart-rending stories ever captured on the silver screen.

These days, romantic movies are boiled down to the ridiculous; for any proof, just go to see one of this weekend's new releases, Valentine's Day, a movie starring everyone. Seriously. You're in this movie. You might be stuffed into the outtakes during the end credits (to be fair, I have not seen this movie yet, but if there are not outtakes, I will eat my proverbial hat), but you're in it. Every person in the entire world is in this damn movie. Will it tug at your heartstrings, though, or will it only boast the biggest cast? My guess is that only the latter will be achieved. The movies on this list may not feature the It actors of the time, but they are timeless, they are tragic, they are romantic, and they are some of the best.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I recently highlighted Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind during the rundown of my top ten movies of the past decade. Despite the fact that the film is hard to watch, depending on your personal mindset, this movie is timeless and unstuck in time, as it were. Jim Carrey is Joel Barish, a sad sack who meets Clementine (Kate Winslet), a quirky and strange woman who would be considered a patented Onion A.V. Club manic pixie dream girl if she weren't so maddeningly flaky, flighty, and harsh. Even though they both have flaws, and they both can snipe at each other with supremely unique viciousness, Joel and Clementine love each other. This becomes an issue when Clementine endeavors to have all memories of Joel and their relationship literally erased from her memory. Even more so, things get weirder when Joel decides, out of spite, to do the same.

Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not only one of the best-written films in years (no wonder that Kaufman, in a rare occasion of the Academy getting things right, won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), but it is one of the most heartfelt and true. Sure, there's a potentially insane and ridiculous concept, but the idea of losing the memories of a recently ended relationship may seem like the right idea in the moment, but what cost is it to lose the good memories? Every relationship has, at its core, happiness (or, every relationship should). If a relationship ends, the happiness doesn't disappear any more than the low moments. The nostalgia and realism at play in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to a head with this point: even if you lose those memories, you may be stuck always running into that person you broke up with. You may be destined to endure the lows to get the happiness. Though not a purely happy film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is purely romantic.

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